Major General George C. Rickards, the first National Guard officer to serve as Chief of the National Guard Bureau

The 1920 Act strengthened the National Guard and Organized Reserve in several ways. First, it directed that the Chief of the Militia Bureau be a National Guard officer as a way to better coordinate activities between the Army General Staff and the National Guard.[3][4] Second, it permitted National Guard officers to serve on the Army's General Staff, enhancing their training opportunities and experience, and increasing the exposure of regular Army officers to the National Guard.[5] Third, it required that the Army Staff create joint committees of Guard, Reserve and Regular Army officers when considering actions that would affect the Guard and Reserve, thus giving the Guard and Reserve input into plans and policies that could affect them.[6]. The Regular Army Reserve, the most direct reserve force supplementing the Regular Army, was abolished by the National Defense Act of 1920, but was revived in 1938.

Seal of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, based on design for Army Industrial College.

The National Defense Act of 1920 also required the Army to conduct studies and planning for wartime mobilization, rather than waiting for war to be declared to begin planning. This shift to contingency planning and a long-range outlook led to decentralization of the contracting and procurement process, and increased coordination between military leaders and leaders of business and industry. The need for specialists in procurement and mobilization planning led to the 1924 creation of the Army Industrial College.[7][8]